New York real estate tycoon Walter Salmon took a long lease on the 600 acre Thornton Moore Farm just outside Lexington in 1924, establishing MEREWORTH STUD, named after the famous English stud belonging to Lord Falmouth. He moved thirty thoroughbred broodmares onto the property (he also had seven in England), in addition to continuing to farm tobacco and cattle on site. In 1931, after winning the Preakness Stakes with Vigil, Dr. Freeland, and his home-bred, notoriously intractable "iron horse" DISPLAY, recently retired from racing, Salmon gave up his racing stable and devoted his energies to breeding top-class bloodstock at Mereworth. Until his death in 1953, Salmon bred over 100 stakes winners at Mereworth with earnings of more than ten million dollars, and he was frequently at or near the top of the leading breeders list in terms of races and monies won.

Salmon liked to work in partnerships and with leasing arrangements. Thus, the speedy juvenile and later leading sire of juveniles, ARIEL, sold when his owner-breed Harry Sinclair became embroiled in the infamous Teapot Dome Scandal, came into the part-ownership of Walter Salmon, and spent his later stud years at Mereworth, when Salmon finally bought out his partners. The temperamental DISPLAY, bred at Mereworth, spent his stud career there, getting the champion Discovery, later a good brodmare sire. Other stallions at Mereworth included SUNGLOW (also bred at Mereworth), a good handicapper whose claim to fame is as sire of Sword Dancer; the good juvenile runner in England, HAIRAN, who was imported by Salmon both for his speed and his pedigree, being only the second son of Fairway to get to America (Salmon later sold partnership shares in Hairan); and the handsome, weight-carrier Bel Aethel (from the great broodmare Plucky Liege), who was shipped to the U.S. with Hairan. Imported Swift and Sure was also a stallion at Mereworth.

The modest runner ALPENSTOCK, purchased at the dispersal of Lord Astor's Cliveden Stud in 1941 and imported by Salmon, became the dam of eight winners, including the gelded Ruhe (winner of $294,490) and established a nice little female family in the U.S. LADY LARK was a good producer for Mereworth; her foals included the stakes winner Sun Lady, L'Oiseau Bleu, and the champion filly and Horse of the Year, Twilight Tear. Other stakes winners bred at Mereworth included Alablue, Sturdy One, Roman Bath, War Command, and Prince Noor (son of MISS DOREEN).--PE